The way people are transported is an ever-changing process - and that applies to the railway systems too. If anything, this process of change has sped up in recent years. The authors of this report present an overview of the markets for rail-guided forms of transport and the various systems that exist. Depending on how the economy develops, mobility changes both quantitatively and qualitatively. From the middle of the 19th century onwards, the railways have made mobility into a real possibility for broad segments of the population. As a system, the railway has undergone continuous further developments, resulting in a finely meshed railway world. The railway monopoly, however, came to an end approximately a century ago, as more and more motorcars appeared unstoppably on the scene. A little later, air travel evolved too. There are some regions of the world, such as Europe and Japan, where the railway still presents a finely meshed network for passenger transport, while there are others, such as North America, where this form of transport has hardly any role left to play outside of the major conurbations.
展开▼
